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ADHD is Personal to Me

Impulsive, inattentive, does not sit still, does not play well with others, and throws a lot of temper tantrums are all symptoms that my step-bother has had for years. They are also common symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder. Children with this disorder are diagnosed with or without hyperactivity. My step-brother definitely has the hyperactivity part of the disorder.

I will remember this concept from psychology because I never really knew what it meant to have ADHD until I came across the definition of it the text book. My step-brother takes medication for the disorder, and the disorder has also gotten better with age, just as the text book says it might do. My step-brother still has trouble in school and in learning and still has bad balance and coordination. He also lacks commonsense. Other than those issues, most of his symptoms simmer down when he takes his medication on a daily basis.

My step-brother's first boy cousin, too, has ADHD. Studies have shown heritability is as high as .80. The boys' grandpa also has symptoms of the disorder and had a lot of troubles growing up. Because I can associate the concept with my life, I will remember the symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder and the statistics about it for many years to come.

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3 Comments

I feel the same way as you do about ADHD when it comes to autism. I have a brother with autism and I never really knew what exactly the symptoms were. After reading about the disorder it really makes the diagnosis make sense since my brother shows nearly all of the symptoms. I will always remember the symptoms of autism since I grew up seeing them every day.

The only problem with diagnosing ADHD is that people can mistake the diagnosis in patients who indeed do not have it. For instance, someone could have autism at a relatively low severity so doctors will just diagnose it with ADHD. On a personal note, my teachers in school thought I had ADHD when in reality I just had terrible vision and could not focus on anything because, well I couldn't see it so I would take no interest into it. The real diagnosis was that I needed glasses, terribly.

I also have a cousin that I'm close to who has very severe ADHD, so this concept really hit home for me as well. I didn't really take the time to learn about it until this chapter, but the description and information perfectly described some of his behaviors and mannerisms, especially when he didn't take his medication!